Drawing frame with means for counter-balancing the weight of the bobbin carriage rail



Dec. 12, 1967 w. PFEIFER 3,357.170

DRAWIE-IG FRAME WITH MEANS FOR COUNTERBALANCING THE WEIGHT 0? THE BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL Filed May 19, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 12, 1967 w. PFEIFER 3,357,170

9255mm; FRAME. WITH EEANS FOR COUNTEREALANCINU THE WEIGHT OF THE BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL Filed May 19, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet Fig.2

ATTORNEY Dec. 12, 1967 w. PFEIFER DRAWING FRAME WITH MEANS FOR COUNTERBALANCING THE WEIGHT OF THE BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL Filed May 19, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,357,170 DRAWING FRAME WITH MEANS FOR COUNTER- BALANCING THE WEIGHT OF THE BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL Wiili Pfeifer, Eislingen (Fils), Germany, assignor to Zinser-Textiimaschinen Gesellscliaft mit beschraenkter Haftung, Ebersbach (Fils), Germany Filed May 19, 1%6, Ser. No. 551,379 Claims priority, application Germany, May 20, 1965, Z 11,547 Claims. (Cl. 57-99) The present invention relates to a drawing frame, especially a fly frame having a bobbin carriage rail reciprocable in vertical direction and provided with means for counterbalancing the weight thereof.

To assure an exact vertical movement of bobbin carriage rails of drawing frames, the bobbin carriage rails are mounted on brackets and the latter are guided on vertical guide surfaces of the machine frame. To assure further that the considerable weight of the bobbin carriage rails, that of the elements fixedly connected thereto and that of the bobbins arranged on the bobbin carriage rails has not to be carried by the drive shaft and the gear means associated therewith which move the bobbin carriage rails in the aforementioned direction, it is necessary that the aforementioned weights are counterbalanced by appropriate means.

Constructions of drawing frames of the aforementioned kind are known in which the counterbalancing means are constituted by weights which are connected by chains or the like to the brackets carrying the bobbin carriage rail. This known construction imparts to the bracket a tilting moment which in turn causes considerable wear on the slide surfaces guiding the brackets.

In another known construction counterweights are provided and the pull of the counterweights is transmitted by means of double-armed tiltably mounted levers onto the bobbin carriage rail. The ends of these levers which engage the bottom face of the bobbin carriage rail move, during movement of the bobbin carriage rail, in a direction normal to the direction of movement of the bobbin carriage rail back and forth on the bottom face of the bobbin carriage rail. This will likewise lead to undesirable stresses and wear of the guide surfaces on which the brackets are guided.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of drawing frames of the aforementioned kind.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a drawing frame arrangement in which the weight of the bobbin carriage rail and the parts associated therewith is properly counterbalanced and in such a manner that a canting or cocking of the bobbin carriage rail is positively prevented. This is especially important since the bobbin carriage rail is guided with a small clearance on shafts driving the flyers.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for a drawing frame of the aforementioned kind in which the weight of the drawing frame is counterbalanced in such a manner that stresses on and wear of the guide surfaces guiding the bracket carrying the bobbin carriage rail and stresses on the means for moving the bobbin carriage rail are reduced.

With these and further objects in view, the drawing frame according to the present invention mainly comprises support means, a bobbin carriage rail mounted on the support means for rectilinear reciprocating movement in vertical direction, moving means operatively connected to the bobbin carriage rail for reciprocating the latter in the aforementioned direction, counterbalancing means providing a force at least partly counterbalancing 3,357,17fi Patented Dec. 12, 1967 the weight of the bobbin carriage rails and parts con nected thereto, and means transmitting the force provided by the counterbalancing means to the bobbin carriage rail and comprising a lever system tiltably mounted on the support means and including a support lever and an abutment member carried by the lever and engaging the bobbin carriage rail, in which the lever system is constructed and arranged in such a manner so that the abutment means will, during movement of the bobbin carriage rail, carry out a rectilinear movement in the direction coinciding with the direction of movement of bobbin carriage rail.

This arrangement will assure that the bobbin carriage rail is always supported at the same points and the location of the supported points is preferably arranged in such a manner so that no tilting moment will be exerted on the bobbin carriage rail. Preferably the abutment member engages the bobbin carriage rail and moves substantially along a vertical line intersecting a horizontal line passing through the center of the gravity of the bobbin carriage rail so that the weight of the bobbin carriage rail is not only properly counterbalanced but so that the latter will also not impart a moment onto the guide surfaces of the brackets supporting the bobbin carriage rail.

The aforementioned lever system preferably comprises further a pair of swing levers of equal length which with one of the ends thereof are pivotally connected to fixed vertically spaced points of the support means and projecting from the connected ends thereof away from the bobbin carriage rail, whereas the other ends of the swing levers are pivotally connected to spaced points of the support lever carrying the abutment member arranged in such a manner that the abutment member during movement of the bobbin carriage rail will carry out the aforementioned rectilinear movement.

The abutment member is preferable in. the form of a roller turnably carried by the support lever. This will prevent the abutment member to exert a force in transverse direction on the bobbin carriage rail. The counter balancing means may include counterbalancing weights which are connected over elongated flexible means, for instance a chain, to the support lever. Instead of counterbalancing weights or together with such counterbalancing weights, a spring may also be used as counterbalancing means and this spring is biased and connected to the support lever in such a manner that the spring force will impart to the support lever a moment which presses the abutment member or roller against a bottom surface of the bobbin carriage rail. The spring is preferably a tention spring and the pulling force of the latter is transmitted by means of for instance a chain connection to the supporting lever. While the force exerted by weights will remain constant, the force exerted by the spring will vary in dependence on the extension of the spring. In order to compensate for this varying spring force, the means for transmitting the force of the spring to the support lever preferably include a torque converter constructed and arranged in such a manner that the force exerted by the spring on the support lever will be substantially independent of the position of the bobbin carriage rail and independent of the extension of the spring. This torque converter preferably comprises lever means mounted on the support means tiltable about a fixed tilting axis and the transmission means include further a first elongated flexible element connected at one end to the spring, a second elongated flexible element connected at one end to the support lever and the other ends of the flexible elements are connected to the lever means at points spaced and respectively to opposite sides of the tilting axis, and the lever means are constructed and arranged in such a manner so that at least the lever arm of the lever means at which one of the flexible elements acts changes with the angular position of the latter.

The aforementioned lever means may comprise two cam disks fixedly connected to each other and mounted turnably about the aforementioned tilting axis and the flexible elements are respectively connected at the other ends thereof to and extend with portions thereof between the connected ends and said one end thereof respectively about peripheral surface portions of the cam disks and at least one of the cam disks has a peripheral cam portion the radial distance of which from the tilting axis gradually increases in circumferential direction.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic partly sectioned side view of a spinning frame according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 and in which all parts not necessary for the proper understanding of the invention are for clarity reasons eliminated; and

FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned side view showing a modified embodiment of the spinning frame according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and more specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the spinning frame according to the present invention is a flying frame and comprises support means including a plurality of uprights spaced transversely from each other connected at lower and upper ends thereof respectively to transverse members 11 and 12 of the machine frame. The upper transverse member of the machine frame carries a plurality of drawing means 13 of known construction, not forming part of the present invention and therefore only schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. The lower transverse member 11 of the machine frame supports a transverse member 14 which extends over the whole length of the drawing frame and in which a plurality of spindles 15 which carry the flyers 16 are rotatably mounted in a known manner. The shafts 15 extend in a known and therefore not in detail illustrated manner through a bobbin carriage rail 18 which extends likewise in longitudinal direction over the whole length of the machine and which is carried by a plurality of brackets 17.

The bobbin carriage rail 18 carries in its interior thereof a drive of known construction, not illustrated in the drawing, for driving the bobbins 19 which are turnably mounted on the bobbin carriage rail. The brackets 17 are fixedly connected at one of the ends thereof to the bobbin carriage rail 18 and the other ends of the brackets are respectively connected to guide sleeves 22 respectively surrounding and guided on vertically extending guide rods 23 which are fixedly supported on the uprights 10, as best shown in FIG. 2. The bobbin carriage rail 18 is thereby mounted by means of the brackets 17, the sleeves 22 and the guide rods 23 for movement in vertical direction between an uppermost position shown in full lines in FIG. 1 and a lowermost position shown in dash-dotted lines. The reciprocating movement of the bobbin carriage rail 18 is derived from a driven shaft 24 provided with gear portions meshing respectively with racks 26 provided on the sleeves 22. To assure that the shaft 24 does not have to support the whole weight of the guide sleeves 22, the brackets 17, the bobbin carriage rail 18 and the bobbins 19 with the windings there-on carried by the bobbin carriage rail, counterbalancing means are provided which act over a lever system 30 on the bobbin carriage rail 18. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the counterbalancing means comprise counterbalancing weights 29 which are dimensioned in such a manner that 4 the weights thereof will counterbalance that of the bobbin carriage rail 18 and the parts coordinated therewith, that is the bobbins 19 and half of the weight of the fully wound bobbins thereon, as well as the weight of the brackets 17 and the guide sleeves 22.

The counterweights 29 are suspended on elongated flexible members 31, for instance chains or bands, which are guided over turnably mounted rollers 32 and which are connected at 34 to support levers 33 respectively coordinated therewith. Each lever system 30 includes in addition to the support lever 33 a pair of swing levers 35 and 36 each of which is tiltably mounted at one end thereof on stationary trunnions 38, 39, respectively, which respectively are fixed and project laterally from the uprights 10 at vertically spaced portions of the latter in the manner as best shown in FIGS. 2. The swing levers 35 .and 36 project from the pivotally connected ends thereof away from the bobbin carriage rail 18 and the other ends of the swing levers 35 and 36 are pivotally connected at 40 and 41 respectively to spaced points of the support lever 33 in the manner as best shown in FIG. 1. The free end of the support lever 33 carries an abutment member 42 which is preferably in the form of a roller turnably mounted on the free end of the support lever 33 and which engages a wear body 43 inserted in the bottom wall of the bobbin carriage rail 18 substantially at a point 48 and which is pressed by the counterweight 29 with such a force against the body 43 so as to counterbalance the weight of the bobbin carriage rail 18 and the parts associated therewith. The engaging point 48 is preferably located on a vertical line intersecting a horizontal line passing through the center of gravity of the bobbin carriage rail 18. The length of the levers of the system and the distance and location of the two fixed pivot points 38 and 39 are chosen in such a manner that the roller 42 will carry out a rectilinear movement which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the guide rod 23. The dimensions of the aforementioned described parts of the lever system according to the present invention can be chosen in various ways to arrive at a substantially rectilinear movement of the abutment member or roller 42 and two examples for appropriate dimensions of the levers of the lever system are given below:

EXAMPLE 1 The distance h between the pivot points 38 and 39 is chosen slightly greater than the stroke of the bobbin carriage rail 18.

The length of each swinged lever 35 and 36 and the distance between the pivot points 40 and 41 on the support lever 43, 12:0.593 Xh.

The point 48 is thereby spaced from each of the pivot points 40 and 41 a distance 1.151 Xh.

EXAMPLE 2 h is likewise chosen slightly greater than the stroke of the bobbin carriage rail, The dimensions a and b are chosen in the second example so that a=0.530 h and 11:0.538Xh.

The distance of the abutment point 48 from the pivot points 40 and 41 is then 1.04Xh.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the lever system 30 corresponds to the lever system illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The counterbalancing of the weight of the bobbin carriage rail in this embodiment is, however, performed by spring means 50 coordinated with the lever system 30. The spring means may comprise a tension spring 50 connected at one end thereof to the machine frame as shown in FIG. 3, whereas the other end is connected by means of an elongated flexible element 51, such as a chain, band or the like to a torque converter generally designated with the reference numeral 52. The torque converter 52 which is in the form of lever means comprises preferably two cam disks 53 and S4 fixedly connected 'to each other and mounted on the machine frame turnably about a tilting axis. The flexible element 51 is at the other end thereof fixedly connected to a peripheral point of the cam disk 53 and a second flexible element 55 is connected at one end thereof to a peripheral point of the cam disk 54 and at the other end thereof to the support lever 33. The flexible elements 51 and 55 extend with portions thereof adjacent the portion connected to the torque converter 52 respectively about peripheral portions of the cam disks 53 and 54 and the cam disk 53 has a peripheral cam portion 56 the radial distance of which from the tilting axis gradually increased in circumferential direction in such a manner that the lever arm with which the flexible element 51 connected to the spring 50 acts, changes during tilting of the lever means 52 about the tilting axis in such a manner so that the moment imparted by the flexible element 55 onto the support lever 33 and therewith the counterbalancing force imparted to the bobbin carriage rail 18 remains substantially constant during movement of the latter, even though the force imparted by the spring onto the flexible element 51 changes with the elongation or contraction of the spring. The spring 50 is constructed and dimensioned in such a manner that the weight of the bobbin carriage rail 18 will be properly counterbalanced even at the highest position of the latter. The cam disk 54 is shown in FIG. 3, as a circular disk, however, it is also possible to use for this second cam disk a different configuration and cooperating with the cam disk 53 to provide during change of the pulling force produced by the spring 50 a substantially constant moment on the lever 33.

Instead of a tension spring it is also possible to use a compression spring for each lever system or in certain cases it may also be advantageous to use torsion springs or torsion rods which are preferably connected to the swing levers and 36 and which may be mounted on the machine frame at the turning axes 38 and 39.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of drawing frames differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a drawing frame having a movable bobbin carriage rail and means for counterbalancing the weight thereof, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inven tion and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a drawing frame, in combination, support means; a bobbin carriage rail mounted on said support means for rectilinear reciprocating movement in vertical direction; moving means operatively connected to said bobbin carriage rail for reciprocating the latter in said direction; counterbalancing means providing a force at least partly counterbalancing the weight of said bobbin carriage rail and parts connected thereto; and transmission means transmitting the force of said counterbalancing means to said bobbin carriage rail and comprising a lever system tiltably mounted on said support means and including a support lever and an abutment member carried by said support lever and engaging said bobbin carriage rail, said lever system being constructed and arranged so that said abutment member will, during movement of said bob-bin carriage rail, carry out a rectilinear movement in a direction coinciding with the direction of movement of said bobbin carriage rail.

2. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said abutment member engages said bobbin carriage rail and moves substantially along a vertical line intersecting a horizontal line passing through the center of gravity of said bobbin carriage rail.

3. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said counterbalancing means are connected to said support lever of said lever system.

4. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lever system includes further a pair of swing levers of equal length which with one of the ends thereof are pivotally connected at fixed points vertically spaced from each other to said support means and projecting from said ends away from said bobbin carriage rail, the other ends of said swing levers being pivotally connected to spaced points of said support lever.

5. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said abutment member is in the form of a roller turnably carried by said support lever.

6. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 5, wherein said bobbin carriage rail has a bottom face, said roller engaging said bottom face.

7. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said counterbalancing means comprises weight means, and said transmission including further flexible means connecting said weight means to said support lever.

8. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said counterbalancing means comprises at least one spring connected to said support lever and biased to provide a moment to said support lever pressing said abutment member against a bottom face of said bobbin carriage rail.

9. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said counterbalancing means comprises a tension spring and said transmission means interconnecting said tension spring to said support lever and said transmission means being constructed and arranged so that the tension force of said spring provides a moment to said support lever pressing said abutment member against the bottom face of the bobbin carriage rail.

10. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 9, wherein said transmission means includes further a torque converter constructed and arranged in such a manner that the moment imparted by said spring to said support lever remains substantially constant during angular movement of said support lever.

11. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 10, wherein said torque converter comprises lever means mounted on said support means tiltably about a fixed tilting axis, and said transmission means including further a first elon gated flexible element connected at one end to said spring, a second elongated flexible element connected at one end to said support lever, the other ends of said flexible elements being connected to said lever means at points spaced and respectively to opposite sides of said tilting axis, said lever means being constructed and arranged so that at least the lever arm of the lever means at which one of said flexible elements acts, changes with the angular position of the lever means.

12. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 11, wherein said lever means comprises two cam disks fixedly connected to each other and mounted turnably about said tilting axis, said flexible elements being respectively connected at the other ends thereof to peripheral points of said cam disks and extending with portions between said connected ends and said one end thereof respectively about peripheral surface portions of said cam disks, at least one of said cam disks has a peripheral cam portion the radial distance of which from said tilting axis gradually increases in circumferential direction.

13. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 1, wherein said support means include vertical guide means for guiding said bobbin carriage rail during its rectilinear movement, said bobbin carriage rail being arranged laterally 7 from said vertical guide means and including slide means movably mounted on said guide means and carrying said bobbin carriage rail.

14. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 13, wherein said guide means include a plurality of fixed vertically extending guide rods spaced from each other in direction of the elongation of said bobbin carriage rail, said slide means including a plurality of sleeves respectively guided on said guide rods and a plurality of brackets respectively extending between and fixed at opposite ends thereof to said sleeves and to said bobbin carriage rail.

15. A drawing frame as set forth in claim 14, wherein said moving means include a rack provided on each of said sleeves and a driven shaft having gear portions meshing with the rack on each sleeve.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 545,844 9/1895 Brindle 5799 XR 2,758,439 8/1956 Bradshaw 57-436 FOREIGN PATENTS 476,950 9/ 1951 Canada. 923,295 2/ 1955 Germany.

JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A DRAWING FRAME, IN COMBINATION, SUPPORT MEANS; A BOTTIN CARRIAGE RAIL MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR RECTILINEAR RECIPROCATING MOVEMENT IN VERTICAL DIRECTION; MOVING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL FOR RECIPROCATING THE LATTER IN SAID DIRECTION; COUNTERBALANCING MEANS PROVIDING A FORCE AT LEAST PARTLY COUNTERBALANCING THE WEIGHT OF SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL AND PARTS CONNECTED THERETO; AND TRANSMISSION MEANS TRANSMITTING THE FORCE OF SAID COUNTERBALANCING MEANS TO SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL AND COMPRISING A LEVER SYSTEM TILTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND INCLUDING A SUPPORT LEVER AND AN ABUTMENT MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT LEVER AND ENGAGING SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL, SAID LEVER SYSTEM BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED SO THAT SAID ABUTMENT MEMBER WILL, DURING MOVEMENT OF SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL, CARRY OUT A RECTILINEAR MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION COINCIDING WITH THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID BOBBIN CARRIAGE RAIL. 